Application Story: Vitner's Chicago Style Snacks®

C.J. Vitner boosts productivity 20% with new Ishida bagmakers!

Packaging over 2.5 million bags of snacks every week, C.J. Vitner Co. planned to increase efficiency of its busy packaging lines by replacing some of its older model bagmakers.

"In 2010 we purchased eight Ishida Atlas-222
baggers because of their proven capability
and strong customer support from Heat and
Control," explained Jerry Macrito, VP of
Manufacturing. C.J. Vitner manufactures potato,
corn, and tortilla chips, popcorn, and extruded
snacks under the Vitner brand and for private
label customers at their 135,000 sq. foot
manufacturing plant in Freeport, IL.

"The Atlas-222 baggers have helped us gain an
average increase of 20% in productivity," says
Macrito. "We have seen less downtime with an
increase in speed and efficiencies." C.J. Vitner
produces a variety of bag sizes, from 1/2 ounce
up to 12 ounces, in polypropylene and foil
films. Although packaging speeds with the
Atlas baggers are now faster, Macrito says
average product over-fill has been kept to
less than 1 gram beyond declared weight.
"Regardless of the product density, the baggers
have performed favorably: scrap is less than 1%
with film yields improving by 6%," says Macrito.

Capable of speeds up to 250 bags/minute,
the Ishida Atlas-222 features unique rotary
motion sealing jaws that produce tight end
seals with all snack bag films. Back sealing
is synchronized with film speed to create
wrinkle-free vertical seals. Precise film tension,
which is critical to trouble-free high-speed
operation, is maintained using Ishida's real-time
load cell tensioning system. To prevent product
from entering seals, Atlas uses a unique
stripping and bag inflating system. All functions
are controlled from a simple color touch screen.
"The user-friendly program and easy-to-read
display have proven to make this an easy
operation for our machine operators," says
Macrito. "One operator is now able to run three
baggers at once without reducing productivity."

"Installation and start-up was faster than we
expected. The actual installation only took
one day," notes Macrito. "Heat and Control
was always available to answer questions and
lend support if needed," he adds. All things
considered, the new Ishida Atlas-222 bagmakers
have improved packaging efficiency so well for
C.J. Vitner, concludes Macrito, "they will
completely pay for themselves in less
than three years."
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